Such a sewing machine has been known from West German Patent Specification No. DE-PS 3,336,683. A fabric clamped in a fabric holder is moved by a feed mechanism relative to the needle under the head of the sewing machine.
The needle bar is received by a needle bar rocker mounted in the head, which is driven for needle transport. The pivotable mounting of the head makes it possible to perform the needle transport movement for any stitch formation in the direction of the feed motion of the fabric in any direction of feed of the fabric relative to the stitch formation site. The pivotable design of the shuttle holder guarantees that the shuttle is always in the correct position relative to the needle. Even though the pivotable arrangement of the head and shuttle holder permits stitch formation without pivoting the fabric, the function of the sewing machine is limited to straight stitch seams prepared with needle feed. These seams can be prepared with tacking or locking stitches.